9Th Honors Language Arts Summer Reading Assignment

Name: ______

9th Honors Language Arts Summer Reading Assignment

Please read, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and complete the following assignments in preparation for your 9th grade year. The assignments will be collected on the first day of school and further discussion and assessment of the novel will take place the first 2-3 weeks of school. Copies of the novel are available through the school’s textbook room, most bookstores, or you can find a copy on the Internet at http://www.onread.com/book/The-Alchemist-191107 Reading notes are encouraged. If using a school copy of the novel, post-it notes would be appropriate and if using a personal copy of the play, highlighting and marginalia is recommended.

PART 1:

Directions: For each of the following statements decide whether you tend to agree or disagree. For each statement, write strongly agree, agree, disagree or strongly disagree in the “Me” column next depending on your opinion. Do not use unsure. Look for evidence in The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho that either supports or doesn’t support each statement. Write agree or disagree under the The Alchemist column. In the far right column record the chapter and page number to support your findings.

Statement

The Alchemist

PART 2:

Directions: Read the following writing assignments. Choose four out of the five options to complete. Each written piece should be one page in length and should demonstrate your abilities in critical thinking, synthesis, and creativity, as well as your complete understanding of the assigned text. A few of the assignments ask you to choose a statement from the anticipatory guide. Please use each statement only once. This assignment is meant to understand you as a person, your writing abilities, and your abilities to think creatively and critically.

Each response must be typed, double-spaced, and in 12 point Times New Roman font. All analysis must be supported using properly (MLA) cited quotes from the text. See example below on how to correctly cite in-text quotations (Pay extra attention to the punctuation used in the page number).

Example: “If I became a monster today, and decided to kill them, one by one, they would become aware only after most of the flock had been slaughtered, thought the boy. They trust me, and they've forgotten how to rely on their own instincts, because I lead them to nourishment” (Coelho 4).

Personal narrative – Using one of the statements from the anticipatory guide as a springboard, write a personal narrative in which you describe a moment or event in your life that parallels or is similar to an event from the reading (remember that a narrative is a collection of events that tells a story). Bring your narrative to life, being careful to use sensory details. Please be sure to include events or lines from the assigned text to illustrate how the two intersect.

Letter – In every great literary work, a character undergoes immense change, whether it be through a physical journey or through a journey within oneself. Select a main character from the literary work—one that has obviously changed as a result of the plot—and write a letter to yourself from the view point of that character. What would the character, after all he/she has experienced and learned, say to you about your current situation in life? What advice would he/she offer? As the character, use specific examples from the events of the story in order to support “your” viewpoints. To the best of your ability, within the scope of the letter embody the voice of the character.

Poem –Bring the setting of the text to life in a poem. Use specific examples from the text to guide your poem. Within the poem, use vivid imagery, figurative language, personification and metaphor. The poem should almost represent the setting as a living, breathing character within the text.

Persuasive Piece – Select one of the statements from the anticipation guide. In an essay, argue for or against the statement, using specific examples from the text, as well as from your personal experiences to support your argument. Please do not use “I” within the essay. Please be sure to use ample examples from the text.

Expository – Find a news article that captures the meaning of one of the statements from the anticipation guide. In an essay, explain how the news article connects to both the statement and events in the assigned text. Be sure to use specific examples from, both, the article and the literary text.

*You can find an explanation of these writing genres at http://www.thewritingsite.org/resources/genre/default.asp